Better
by glitter95
Summary: My own spin on the disappearance of Beth Greene. Daryl and Beth trying to find themselves and each other in a world that only seeks to destroy. Bethyl fluff.
1. Sprint

The cold wind whipped through Beth's blonde ponytail as she attempted to clamber out the small window of the funeral home. She could hear the walkers gurgling and moaning behind her and in the house. All she could think about was Daryl and if he was even still alive as she dropped to the ground outside.

Tears stung her eyes as she followed Daryl's desperate plea to run to the driveway. The murky blackness of night swallowed her vision, and she panicked as she heard the cacophony of walkers all around. She reached for the knife Daryl had entrusted her with, and she drew it out of its leather sheath. A female walker came into her visual field as another latched onto her backpack from behind. Sheer fright bubbled up inside of her tiny body as she writhed out of her pack and stabbed the walker behind her in the temple. Beth turned and darted away from the female walker and she fled back towards the house.

_She couldn't leave Daryl. She just had to help._

Beth leapt over the walker detection trap in the doorway and landed on her bad ankle. She winced in pain and struggled up to the busted down door. Upon entering, she looked around for Daryl, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, more walkers staggered through the door and advanced on Beth. Panicked, Beth limped toward the piano room.

_Where are you Daryl? She thought._

The dozen walkers were gaining on her quickly, and she knew she couldn't fight them alone. "Daryl!" She screamed, but the din of walker growls smothered her cry. Beth knew she was cornered as she surveyed the room. There was nowhere to escape and the walkers were only getting closer to her. She started pushing down the chairs in the room to impede the path of the walkers who desired to make her their next meal. Her breathing came in small spurts as her anxiety buzzed in her chest.

Daryl's coffin from the night before came into view, and Beth hopped in without a thought and slammed the lid shut.

The walkers began to moan and groan as they raked their grimy nails across the top of the coffin in an effort to extract Beth. Beth held her knife at ready as the walkers continued to grind on the coffin. All Beth could see was utter darkness. All Beth could think about was Daryl.

* * *

Daryl ran outside in search of Beth. He was shaken up badly after his ordeal with the walkers downstairs, and he just wanted to grab Beth to take them to safety.

"_Please Beth, be at the driveway," He thought. _

As Daryl emerged from the cover of the trees, he saw Beth's pack on the drive. Then, the noise of a car made him look up. A black car, with a white cross on the back window, barreled up the driveway.

White, hot panic boiled up inside of him. Daryl roared her name into the night as he lit out down the drive after the only thing he had left in the world.


	2. Unlucky

Daryl sat on the hard pavement with a thud and a heavy heart. His legs and lungs burned from lack of proper oxygen and abundance of use. He had lost track of the black car at the crossroads. "I'm sorry Beth," He whispered into his dirty hands.

He had failed her. He had let someone disrupt their lives yet again.

"_Just like the Governor..." He thought. _

In a fit of rage Daryl screamed a string of profanities. He didn't care if he attracted any walkers. Maybe letting the dead finally win was the solution to his misery. Tears threatened to leak from his blue eyes as he thought of Beth. Daryl pondered on her condition and continued to blame himself. He knew Beth would tell him it wasn't his fault that she had been taken, but Daryl couldn't agree.

_Beth is gone because of my stupidity. _

He thought back on that tender moment they had shared before all hell broke loose the night before. The small candles they had lit had illuminated Beth's delicate features. It was the first time he had really examined her that close up before, and he liked it.

Her nose sat perfectly on her face and her big eyes, the color of the wildflowers that had grown out by the prison, drew him in like a moth to a flame. Her skin, bathed in the pale amber light, looked so clear and beautiful. It was hard to believe that she had been living in a post-apocalyptic world for the last two years. Beth's sunshine tinted hair fluffed out in all the right places, he thought, and he actually ached to let his hand run through its waves.

She was so pure, so innocent, so much better than him. And he, well, he was used and scarred. She was his opposite, yet she seemed to understand him better than anyone else he had ever known.

_How could she do that? _

Beth had been writing the thank-you note to the people that lived there, and Daryl had insisted that they just stay instead. He quickly was rendered speechless when she implored his reason for believing in good people. Her sweet voice was music to his ears, and her smile made his heart tug in all the right places. What was this feeling he had for her? He didn't understand this new emotion slithering into his mind. He felt like an old dusty book that had never been read, that was getting its spine creased for the very first time, actually being read. He thought best not to open his mouth for fear he would damage the perfect atmosphere surrounding them, so he gave her a knowing look instead.

She responded with an air of an emotion he could not quite decipher, "Oh."

Daryl had felt like he was a live wire after her little response, and before he could respond to her, of course, the dog had to start barking.

But, now, Beth was gone from him like a bullet from a gun. He lay down and tried to conform to the pavement beneath him. Maybe he could dissolve into the earth. It would quell his misery. Daryl imagined Beth singing her heart melting melodies and the way her lips turned up when she smiled at him, the perfect picture of beauty. The grief came from a place deep within his throat and he sobbed heavily into the gray hardness. Daryl felt so guilty, in so many ways. He felt as if he was tumbling into a deep chasm with no end.

Eventually, Daryl embraced the abyss.

* * *

Beth woke with a start in the coffin. At first she had forgotten where she was, but she quickly remembered her horrible predicament. She listened intently for the sound of shuffling feet, throaty groans, or any other despicable noise that signaled that a walker was nearby. Fortunately, all she could hear was a bird singing.

Carefully, Beth began to press on the lid of the coffin. The lid creaked open with a wailing sound, and Beth suppressed the panic in her throat that she was going to attract an unwanted walker. Slowly, she peeked out of her hiding place to scope out the room.

There wasn't a walker in sight.

She crept out onto the floor and eased her ways to the door. The knife was gripped tightly in her hand in case a straggling walker came near. She could hear no walker, so she made her way into the hallway.

_Daryl had to be here, right?_

Beth considered that she may find an undead Daryl limping around, and she swiftly shoved the idea from her mind. She couldn't afford to think that way; she had to have hope. Shuffling into the kitchen gave her no new insight onto where Daryl was and she became puzzled. Walker corpses littered the floor, the once pristine home now ravaged by the filth that roamed outside.

An arrow pierced the skull of a walker at the top of the stairs leading down to the morgue.

_Why in the world would he go down there?_

Beth followed his trail to the morgue where a dozen or so walkers lay unmoving. Relief flooded through her as she determined that he was not among the carnage. After perusing through the rest of the house and not discovering Daryl or any clues as to where he may have went, Beth was beginning to really panic.

"Daryl!" She began to desperately call out his name as she struggled outside. Her only answer came in the form of bird whistles. She found her pack on the driveway where she had left it and upon bending down to pick it up, she noticed something odd.

Daryl's lessons on tracking had soaked into her brain, but these tracks were easy to figure out.

The gravel was disturbed in the fashion that only tires could do, and Beth toyed with the idea that a car had appeared last night during her and Daryl's unlucky ordeal. She didn't recall the tire tracks from last night, nor did she remember hearing a car at all.

_This doesn't make sense. _

Without any direction to follow and worry clouding her thoughts, Beth did the only thing she could fathom to do.

She knelt down and prayed to God for Daryl Dixon.


	3. Bright

**_A/N:_ Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They're greatly appreciated!**

_The room was large and a piercing, beautiful light radiated within it, originating from a source Daryl couldn't quite place._

_He looked down, and noticed his ratty clothes were clean and brand new once more. Daryl's crossbow was missing as well as his other weapons. _

"_Where am I?" Daryl's voice ricocheted around the bright room, reverberating in his bones. For a brief moment he actually thought he was in heaven, but then he remembered that he didn't believe in all that hope and faith that Beth always carried on about. He dismissed the possibility. _

_A glimmer of white caught his eye, and he turned his head to see the last person he expected to see. _

_Hershel Greene sat in the corner, and his clothes were pure white, just spotless. He looked at Daryl expectantly and smiled a reassuring smile that bordered on the line of humorous. _

"_Hey son." Hershel's gruff voice spoke with an air of reverence. _

_Daryl shuffled towards the lost, prison patriarch. _

"_Hershel?" Daryl questioned._

_The hoary headed man then stood up and came face to face with Daryl. Daryl couldn't comprehend what was happening. He felt as if he had been standing toe to toe with Hershel for days, maybe even years. _

_Hershel finally placed his hand on Daryl's shoulder and began to speak._

"_Thank you."_

_It was a simple phrase, but it had Daryl dumbstruck. Hershel had thanked him, but thanked him for what? For letting his head get chopped off by the Governor? For letting his Beth get taken by some freak? The words had anger spiking in the place under his eyes, and it had him itching to shed himself of the gratitude Hershel had extended his way. He didn't deserve anything. _

"_For what?" Daryl breathed._

_Hershel looked at him in the way that fathers look at their children when they ask simple questions._

"_You know why." Hershel grinned._

_What kind of game was he playing? Daryl didn't know, but he wasn't enjoying it._

"_What're you talkin' about?!" Daryl nearly shouted. _

_Hershel shifted his head back and laughed. _

"_You should give yourself more credit, boy."_

"_For what reason would you possibly have to thank me? I let all those bad things happen! I let my guard down and everything went south! If – _

_Hershel cut him off with a sharp, "Enough."_

_Daryl looked shocked as Hershel's expression softened._

"_Now you are going to accept my thanks, you hear me?"_

_Daryl was at a loss for words and simply just looked at Hershel with a pleading look._

"_For taking care of my Beth, and teaching her how to survive" Hershel replied._

_A pang of sorrow crinkled from within his chest, Daryl hadn't taught her enough. Not enough._

"_It wasn't enough." Daryl whispered to himself more than anyone. _

_Hershel shook his head and grinned at the floor. _

"_You should give her more credit too, son."_

He felt as if his body had been sucked through a vacuum when he awoke on the ground. The late afternoon sun was hung high in the sky, blinding Daryl as he sat up from his deep sleep.

The dream had been so real, and Daryl shook his head to clear his fuddled mind.

Daryl never had many dreams, but when he did he paid attention to them. He thought about Hershel and his gratitude in his dream. He thought about Beth trying to survive without anyone. Maybe he didn't give her the credit she was worth, and maybe she was doing just fine without him. But Daryl couldn't take that chance.

Daryl knew he had to keep going. He knew he had to earn the gratitude.

Despite the ache in his over-used muscles, and the burning in his throat from lack of water, Daryl willed himself to stand. The ache of his body paled in comparison to the desire to find Beth, to make her safe again.

Up ahead he noticed a herd approaching. Daryl knew he was outnumbered ten to one, but he didn't care.

Daryl cocked his crossbow and took off running towards the walkers obstructing his path.

He would go through hell and high water to get to Beth. He'd do whatever it took.

He'd do anything for _her_.

_For Beth._


	4. Care

Beth stood up from her prayer and surveyed her surroundings. She judged the time to be around noon. The sun was burning brightly in the sky despite the chill she felt in her bones.

She couldn't give up on finding Daryl. It simply wasn't an option.

Daryl had become her rock. She needed him and he needed her. She could feel it.

She knew by the way he would casually let his eyes slip across her for a few extra seconds than was necessary.

At night, when they were in the woods, he would hold her tight to his broad chest so they could be warm. Beth had often found herself waking with his blanket doubled with her own, because he'd rather her be warmer than he.

His kind gestures towards her had stirred something deep inside of Beth.

She knew he was older, but she knew it wasn't by much.

And frankly, she didn't give a damn.

Before the walkers had busted down the doors of their new home, Daryl had given her a look that had melted her heart.

His dark blue eyes seemed to bore into her, reaching down deep within her until the realization hit her.

Little Beth, the one everyone ignored, had broken down the enigma that was Daryl Dixon. She had challenged his thoughts, stood up to him, and she had changed his attitude on life.

At that beautiful moment time had seemed to cease to function, the walkers outside were nonexistent, and Beth had someone caring about her in a way no one had before.

Of course, she was no stranger to being cared for.

But, Maggie, her daddy, and her family had cared for her in a different way. It was not the same care that Daryl had for her.

And it was beautiful.

And Beth wanted nothing more than to show Daryl that she cared for him just as much, maybe even more.

This cruel world had tried to break her down; it had tried to crush her spirit. But, she clung to hope.

_Daddy I need you. I need guidance._

As if the good Lord had heard her wish, her eyes brushed over some new evidence. She noticed another set of tracks she had previously missed.

The gravels were scuffled around haphazardly, creating small valleys of dirt and rock.

Someone had taken off running.

It had to be Daryl. Beth wouldn't entertain the notion of the tracks belonging to anyone else but him. She could not and would not defer from her hope of finding him once more.

Beth wasn't about to let him slip through her fingers.

He belonged to her, not the awful world and its walkers. She was going to find him. And nothing was stopping her.

So Beth took off running down the drive in the direction of Daryl's tracks, like a bullet from a gun.

* * *

Walker blood sprayed across his whiskered face. But Daryl didn't care.

He imagined every walker as being the prick that had taken his Beth, and the strength came easily to him.

Daryl continued to crush his crossbow into each walker's mottled skull. The stench was horrifying, but Daryl could care less.

Nothing mattered except getting to her.

_Nothing. _

He knew love was a powerful force that could drive people to do maddeningly dangerous things. He had seen it happen with Rick, Maggie, Glenn and many others.

He had never known what compelled them so.

But now he knew.

With each walker he decimated, he felt his love for Beth Greene increase tenfold. Never would he imagine himself having an epiphany about love in the heat of a walker brawl.

But being separated from Beth had spurred his heart to realize what that strange emotion he felt back at the funeral home actually was.

It was a love of the purest kind.

Daryl never knew anything about love, but Beth had shown him what it was. Her kind eyes and gentle soul had brought down all the walls he had built around his psyche. She had brought him out of the darkness he dwelled within and into her own marvelous light.

He had to find her; he had to show her he loved her.

After the last walker, Daryl could see the sun setting on the horizon.

But something was different.

A small ball of fire was bobbing up over the horizon.

As the strange sight emerged completely, he knew it to be a person.

Their hair caught the twilight in an awe dazzling way, igniting it to the color of flames.

_Sunshine hair. _

Daryl felt his body leap towards the person, like a magnet searching for its mate.

He would know that head of hair anywhere.


	5. United

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone!**_

Beth's breath came out in wispy spurts as the sunset behind her burned bright. She had been running for a while, just running as fast as she could after Daryl's trail.

In the distance she made out a figure, and that figure was suddenly sprinting towards her.

A moment of fear caused her to come to a stop and unsheathe her knife.

_I don't care who they are because they ain't stopping me. _

As the figure closed in on her she realized.

_They had found each other._

Daryl was maybe twenty feet from her now, his dark hair matted with walker blood and grime, but he was the most beautiful sight her eyes had ever laid upon. He wore a smile the size of Georgia, the biggest one that had probably ever graced his face.

Beth dropped her knife and threw her arms open wide and began to weep tears of joy. She could feel her daddy's sweet presence in the atmosphere between them. The grief and loneliness had subsided, and she was once again united with him, with Daryl Dixon.

Daryl's laughter of disbelief bounced in her ears as he snatched her up and buried himself into her. He spun her around with an adamant grip that never once faltered.

She caught his hair in her dirty hands and nuzzled herself deep into the crook of his neck, smiling.

"Beth, oh Beth, are you alright?!" Daryl's voice was uncharacteristically filled to the brim with emotion.

"I'm fine Daryl! I'm just fine." Beth choked out between her happy tears.

"I never thought I'd see you again Beth. Thinkin' that killed me on the inside." Daryl caressed her cheek with his thumb.

The look in his eyes made Beth weak in the knees and caused her heart to swell with felicity.

"So who took ya? How'd you escape?" Daryl winced as if he was unsure of his question.

Beth furrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion, "Huh?"

"The car that took you, what happened?"

Beth couldn't help but giggle a tad.

"I was in the funeral home the entire time. I tried going back in to help you, but I got overcome by walkers and had to hide in your coffin/bed. When I woke up, I tried looking for you. And then I tracked you."

A mixture of relief and joy filtered through his disposition.

"I guess I did teach you enough, huh?" Daryl smiled.

Daryl placed Beth back onto the pavement and wound his arms around her bony back.

"I missed you, but I knew I'd find you again. I could feel it." Beth replied.

"There's you with all your hoping again." Daryl laughed.

Beth grinned and shook her head, causing a blonde curl to jump across her face.

Daryl grabbed the curl and gently smoothed it back into place behind her ear.

She caught his hand in her small one, and wove her fingers with his.

Daryl gave her slender hand a quick squeeze and leaned into Beth.

"But I love it."

The breath that carried Daryl's words tickled Beth's face and sent an avalanche of shivers down her spine.

They were together again, united, but in a way Beth had never felt before.

His blue eyes met hers, and she could feel the electricity radiating from him to her.

Their tie to each other ran much deeper than just plain old friendship. The bond that had bound her to him was ethereal and strung her soul to his in a beautiful way.

Together, they could not only survive but also _live._

* * *

Later that night, Daryl and Beth had managed to find a long abandoned campground that miraculously harbored no signs of people or walkers. Inside an old cramped shack, they had discovered a dilapidated tent covered in dust and cobwebs.

Beth set up the tent and strung the walker detection device amongst the trees while Daryl tried to hunt a gray squirrel that had scampered across their campsite.

After his successful squirrel catch, he skinned and gutted the small creature for his and Beth's meager supper.

The fire crackled in the dark night, throwing ghostly shadows across the camp. Beth used to fear the strange shadows that flames induced, but now she craved the shadows of the fire, thankful she was warm.

Daryl sat beside her, their elbows touching slightly.

They enjoyed their meal in silence, too exhausted to speak.

When the last morsel of squirrel had been eaten, Daryl made his way towards the tent.

After she heard the zipper of the tent release, she looked at him.

Daryl sat crouched at the entrance of the tent gazing softly at her.

He jerked his head towards the tent opening.

"Come 'ere."

And Beth got up and followed Daryl Dixon into the tent, zipping the opening completely shut behind her.


End file.
